Frankenstein vs Today’s Serial Killers

In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein the protagonist Victor Frankenstein creates a monster. The monster in the novel is deprived of a normal life due to his appearance. Like the creature, some serial killers today are killers due to the same rejection. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley warns that a childhood of abuse and neglect will often result in evil actions.
Neglect during his childhood, most certainly affected Charles Manson and contributed to the monster he became. A biography of Charles states that his mother didn’t want anything to do with him so he lived on the streets committing minor crimes (“Charles Manson Biography”). Charles’s mother robbed him of a normal childhood with a loving family. Reports on Manson stated that he was “suffering from a ‘marked degree of rejection, instability, and psychic trauma’” (“Charles Manson Biography”). Charles later married a 17 year old woman who left him for another man due to his return to prison (“Charles Manson Biography”). Once again, Charles was abandoned by someone he loved. After his time in jail, Manson obsessed over cult-quasi-religious groups and he took on the role of a cult leader because he believed the world to be “doomed” (“Charles Manson Biography”). Charles then formed his cult from a group of unstable people. He persuaded his group to believe that he was of a higher power; therefore, they followed him like a god. The biography of Manson states that, “Manson himself took no part in the actual killings, but directed his murderous disciples to the address and instructed them to kill everyone (“Charles Manson Biography”). Charles’s background and past trauma led him to commit horrid acts. Like Charles, John Wayne Gacy also lived with an alcoholic parent. Gacy’...

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...ying and ran away from him. The monster was abandoned by Victor and had no one as his friend. This caused the monster to murder Victor’s family out of revenge.
"Ted Bundy Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Theodore Bundy, also known as Ted Bundy, was born in November to Eleanor Cowell. His mother was unmarried when she had him. Eleanor later brought Ted to her parents’ home and he lived with his grandparents. The family told Ted that his grandparents were his parents and that Eleanor was his older sister. Ted was abandoned by his mother. While in college, Ted found the love of his life. They later broke up and he was crushed. He then began his killings by luring women in with his looks and by telling them he was injured. He was caught and they found many tools in his car. He was arrested and convicted for many murders.